Articles: Oak Beam Alternatives

What's The Situation With European Oak?

We are an import to order merchant and many of our products originate overseas, as such with the sharp rise in demand of the timber industry, lead times across the board have been extended.

The impact on lead times are amplified in regard to our European Oak fresh sawn beams. Which is due to the yearly August shutdown on the continent which closes our sawmill responsible for providing our European Oak beams.

This is a three-week long shutdown and therefore, any orders that are placed for Fresh sawn European beams will be subject to an extended lead time with new orders due for September.

As we are specialists in oak, we made a special effort to source European green Oak beam alternatives in the meantime to help any of those that need their Oak beams sooner and cannot wait til September.

Homegrown English Oak

English Oak is the homegrown variant of European Oak that we can provide and is equally as impressive with its unmatched strength and durability, English Oak is a fantastic structural timber and much like its European counterpart will look striking in any project.

It's also grown right here in the UK so alongside your purchase, you know you're making an effort to contribute to the growth of British industry and the local economy. Additionally you're helping create jobs in forest management and reducing the UK's carbon footprint both of which helps the sustainability of the timber sector and the preservation of our planet.

The best part about it is, you do not have to wait til September to get it as we can offer it with a much more reasonable lead time of 20 – 25 working days as of today.

Fresh sawn oak is an industry favourite for the construction sector and sees use in a variety of projects, particularly structural projects due to its excellent durability and aesthetic, you can read more about it in our Uses of Fresh Sawn Oak article written about its impressive versatility.

European Oak Air-dried

If you absolutely must have European Oak beams but the lead time is too long, we have an option for you in the air-dried section. At the time of writing this article we can provide air dried European Oak beams with the normal 35 – 45 working day lead time.

For the uninformed, air dried beams are essentially how fresh sawn beams end up in a few years after being left outside, which means they are subject to all of the splits and cracks that normally appear on fresh sawn beams after they have been used and aged for a sufficient amount of time. This is part of what we expect with Oak and its one of its defining iconic qualities.

Normally for outdoor use, fresh sawn is ideal, as it’s the cheaper option compared to air-dried and they will end up looking very similar regardless. But as mentioned above it’s another option for your Oak beam requirements if you don't want English Oak but can't wait til September time.

The demands on current supplies are a great reason for why we should be culturing Oak beams and all other natural resources with more care. It will benefit supply lines and and will further help the planet.